Sensitive
by SimonandJace
Summary: Takes place AFTER CoHF! Jace and Clary come to terms with what they've lost and Jace learns what being sensitive means. Clace oneshot.


**A/N – This was a request from the wonderful CatherineA. If anyone else has any requests, just leave them in my reviews or private message me and I'll start as soon as possible ****J**** Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

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Clary spent a lot of time staring listlessly up at the ceiling now.

Her room was plain and boring in the Institute. She wasn't even sure why she _had_ a room at the Institute, because she'd only spent one night in it. The rest of the time she was at home, watching her parents frantically plan an entire wedding by themselves and try to accommodate for vampires and werewolves. Watching them work so tirelessly made her exhausted, so she often escaped to the Institute.

"Sulking, Fray?"

Jace stood in the doorway, leaning his head against the doorframe and unknowingly sending a mass of curls avalanching down his face. He needed a haircut, she mused to herself. She waved him in, watching him approach the bed with liquid grace and feeling the mattress dip when he perched himself on the edge.

"You do it too, don't you?" She muttered lifelessly.

"Stare at the ceiling with enough intensity to burn a hole in the plaster?" He asked , a thin smile on his face.

"Think about everyone we've lost." Clary corrected, hearing him give a sharp intake of breath as he stilled, the joking persona melting away. He put a hand on her shoulder, guiding her up and wordlessly letting her lean against him while his fingers worked through her hair.

"Is this about Simon?" He asked quietly, his voice filled with emotion when he said their friend's name. "Because I understand. I mean, obviously we weren't as close as you two were…we didn't always get along. But in a way he was like my first…" He broke off, closing his eyes.

She could almost hear his voice saying the next word. _Friend. _And that was true. Besides Alec and Isabelle, Simon really _had_ been his first friend. The first mundane to work his way into Jace's life."It's not just Simon." She continued, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Helen got sent away, and Jordan is gone, Raphael, and…" She couldn't even say his name. Everything hurt now that he was gone, it was like a part of her was missing somewhere inside her. She remembered what Isabelle had said. _Maybe it would be better if he had died._

"Clary, we're Shadowhunters. Loss is a part of our lives, we're wired to deal with it."

"Then why does it hurt so bad?"

That seemed to be it for them. It was the question that circled their heads when they couldn't sleep at night. The war was over, the battles were won, so why did it feel like they were still fighting? They survived, but not really. It was like the injuries from the war weren't over, they were still bleeding. And they would be for a long time. "I don't want you to be sad." Jace said, his voice shaking slightly as he said it. "But I don't know how to help you when I'm sad too."

She sat up straighter and turned to face him, finding with broken amazement that he was crying. Jace Herondale was crying, just like he had when Isabelle was bitten and just like he had when Simon sacrificed himself. His tears were gentle and lingered on his lashes, making his eyes bright. Under any other circumstance he would be furiously swiping his tears away and insisting that they weren't tears, just water that happened to be on his face. But right now they both knew there were perfectly good reasons to be crying.

"You don't have to fix me." Clary told him firmly. "No one can. But if I didn't have you with me through this, it would be so much worse."

Jace finally brought a hand up to swipe away the tears and grinned at her, the life seemingly coming back and reanimating his features. "That was cheesy, Fray." He kissed her once, slowly and softly with his hand gently cupping her neck. "I promise that I will _always_ be here for you."

"I like this version of you." She declared, wiping at her eyes and smirking. "You're comforting me. You're being all sensitive and you even admitted that Simon was your friend, and you're _crying."_

He shifted to face her, counting everything off on his fingers. "I am not crying, I never said he was my friend, I don't even _know_ what sensitive means, and I also don't know how to comfort people." He smiled with fake sweetness that could practically give her a cavity. "And I don't intend to learn."

She rolled her eyes. "So much for that."


End file.
